Foreign feelings
by Chinese girl 50
Summary: A new girl has intrigued Haruka. He wants to know more about her, and for the very first time has felt a feeling foreign to him, a feeling called love. As he get's closer to her, he begins to feel more emotions of affection and adoration towards her, uncovering layer after layer of her. But of course, there always has to be a twist in love stories.
1. Chapter 1

There was silence in the bare hallways of Iwatobi high school. Slowly sinking sun dimly shining through the windows, the afternoon slowly waning in, lockers being shadowed by sunlight, glistening slightly. Classroom doors locked, some still having teachers inside of them working, or teachers discussing things with other teachers. Iwatobi high was now silent, a silence kept intact without anything breaking it. Nothing seemed to be rough, rowdy nor maddening in the hallways, a calm atmosphere entrancing and wafting throughout the tranquil air.

However at the pool, it was a different story.

At the pool, two people were ready to compete against one another, deciding to see who could go faster. Both of them at the edge of the pool, hands too on the edge, both wearing black swimming caps and goggles. One of them wore black swimming trunks with purple designs on it, while the other wore an entirely black swimming suit. And yes, surprisingly (Or not), she was a female, going against one of the best swimmers in the team. One of them was Haruka, another we'll leave to talk about in a bit. Gou, who was staring intently at the both of them looked at Makoto and Nagisa, along with Rei, who looked back at her. Haruka didn't care about his time, but hey, this was a race suggested by Gou.

"On your marks..." The swimmers bodies tensed up.

"Get set..." The bodies slowly recoiled backwards.

"GO!" And the two swimmers dived into the pool, their entry angles perfect, the two loud splashes flinging water droplets to the side of the pool, as loud cheering began filling the now competitive atmosphere, Makoto and Nagisa's voices now cheers for Haruka, Gou solely cheering for her new friend alone. The two swimmers were equally fast, their swimming streamlining the water perfectly, both of them reaching the end of the pool and pushing themselves off the wall once again at the turn. Haruka pushed off the wall faster, while the female was a few seconds close, yet late. Cheering was heard from Makoto, Nagisa and Gou, Rei watching as the two of them swam, focusing on Haruka's stroke. "GO HARUKA!" Nagisa yelled, as both swimmers were close to the other wall, Haruka's hand touching the wall first by a second before the female.

"Haruka wins!" Gou said, as both swimmers emerged from the water. Nagisa and Makoto were cheering for Haruka, Nagisa hugging Makoto in victory. Haruka, we know what he looks like already, but the girl who had went against him was a different story.

She had hair, the color of a blackout. Her dark , chocolate brown eyes radiated kindness and warmth like Makoto's eyes, pale white skin giving the eyes more significance, forcing them to stand out. She had a fine, slim and athletic figure which was visible through the black swimsuit now hugging her body due to the water. Her goggles were now around her neck, cap pulled off her head. She looked at Haruka, smiling at him and saying, "Great job, Haru-chan." She said. She was in her first year of high school at Iwatobi High, now sixteen. Her name was Sadan. She was from Hong Kong, birthed by an Armenian father and Japanese mother, eventually moving to Japan recently. and she also had a disease related to her respiratory system, but let's learn about that another time. Taking mostly on her mother's appearance, but taking most of her father's personality.

"... Thanks. Don't use -chan on my name." Haruka said, the last part blunt, then lying down in the pool on his back, relaxing and looking at the sky. He only just met Sadan an hour ago, so he didn't have much to say about her. Yet he knew that she was mainly like Makoto. She lifted herself out of the pool, sitting on the edge as Gou slowly "ran" to her, saying (The pool is slippery, after all), "You did great, Sadan-kun!"

"Thanks, but not as great as Haruka." Sadan replied, taking her water bottle that was at the edge and taking a gulp of water, closing the bottle and setting it back down on the edge. She looked at Haruka, calmly floating without any risk of his intact, expressionless mask shedding cracks or fractures of emotions.

"Great job, Haru-chani!" Nagisa said, as Haruka hesitantly got out of the pool, shaking his head, taking Makoto's hand and simply nodding as he got a towel and began drying himself off. Sadan too got out of the pool, drying herself off and saying, "Gou, I'm going to go change. I'll meet you outside!" And she went to the changing room.

"It's KOU, not Gou!" Gou replied to Sadan, who was already in the changing room and was oblivious to what her new friend had said. She sighed, wondering to herself on why she had gotten a male name. She looked at the swim team, and she asked, "What do you think about Sadan so far?"

"She's really nice, like Mako-chan!" Nagisa said cheerfully, as he smiled at Gou.

"I think she's great." Makoto said, a gentle smile forming on his face.

"She doesn't really seem to know the true values of beauty! Her freestyle stroke wasn't smooth!" Rei yelled. Of course, beauty was everything to him. The swim team then looked at Haruka, who after a few seconds of silence, simply said,

"She's nice." And he left to change. The others looked at him walk to the changing area, and Nagisa shrugged his shoulders.

"I think we should go change. It's getting late!" He said, as he grabbed Makoto and Rei by the wrists and dragged them to the changing room. The one for guys of course!

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Sadan-kun! Gou-chan!"

"It's KOU!"

"We're going to be having dinner at Haru-chan's house. Would you like to join?" Nagisa said, as Sadan turned her head to him. She pondered for a bit, then smiling and saying, "Sure, Nagisa-chan." She quickly said goodbye to Gou and told hr to be safe, and she followed Nagisa towards the boys who were waiting, who had already taking her wrist in excitement and was _dragging, _yes, _dragging _Sadan to the group. "Haru-chan! Mako-chan! Rei-chan! Sadan-chan is going to join us!" He said, and the other three noticed Sadan being dragged by Nagisa.

"Nagisa, let go of my wrist!" She said, and Nagisa let go of her wrist, resulting in her rubbing her sore wrist. "Thanks." She continued, looking at the rest of the group. "Hey Mako-chan, Rei-chan, Haru-chan." She said, a smile on her face as the injured wrist was dropped to her side. "So, we're going to Haru-chan's house, correct?"

"Don't use -chan on my name." Haruka said sharply, looking at Sadan. She stood there for a few seconds, and then said, "Sorry, Haru-kun." bowing in apology. She stood back up, Nagisa then saying, "C'mon, it's getting late!" And that's when he began running to Haruka's house, the rest of the group running after him.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"You are one hell of a fast runner, Nagisa-chan!" Sadan said, slipping off her shoes as she entered Haruka's house.

"Well, you all didn't even bother running as fast as you could!" Nagisa said, looking at Sadan with a triumphant smile on his face.

"Shut up!" Sadan said quickly, setting her bag down.

"I'll go cook." Haruka said, going to his kitchen and putting on an apron after taking off his shoes and setting down his bag.

"Is it Mackerel again?" Makoto asked, and Haruka simply nodded. Makoto sighed, and Sadan looked at him in curiosity. "Haru-chan enjoys eating Mackerel a lot, so he cooks it all the time." He told Sadan, who nodded. "I think we should go to the _yōshitsu _now." He continued, as the others went to the _yōshitsu _and sat down at the table.

"So, tell us more about you, Sadan-kun!" Nagisa said cheerfully, looking at Sadan. She looked at him and smiled. She began talking about herself.

"I was born in Hong Kong, China. I'm now sixteen, and was born April 25th. My father gave me a male name and I'm completely fine with it. I began swimming when I was six years old, but I enjoy hiking, singing and rock climbing. I have an older brother who's in England right now as a businessman, and is now 27. I can't speak Japanese that well though, so I'm learning Japanese from my mom and Gou-kun. I still only know up to a level where I can participate in local Japanese schools." She said.

"So you can't speak that much Japanese?" Makoto inquired.

"Yes. So I have to speak English." She said.

"Try saying something in Japanese!" Nagisa said.

"Why?" Sadan asked.

"Please?"

"Fine! _Kon'nichiwa, watashinonamaeha· sadandesu. Watashi wa 16da._" Sadan said, struggling to even form the words which hardly seemed to reach her mind. She sighed, looking at the other three in embarrassment. "See? I can't even say a sentence without struggling!" She said in english.

"But at least you can speak Japanese." Makoto said, and Sadan smiled at him in thanks.

"Thanks, Mako-chan."

"But you can't form the words with articulate pronunciation, so it's not beautiful!" Rei said, and Sadan sighed.

"Fine, I'll try my best."

"But your English pronunciation is no different."

"The food's ready." Haruka said, coming out with guess what? Mackerel and pineapple. The apron Haruka had put on was off, his school uniform left untouched with any stains from cooking (The stains were on the apron, of course) and the guys sighed, with Sadan raising an eyebrow. Well, that was a peculiar dish.

"Not THAT again, Haru-chan!" Nagisa said. Haruka had already set down the five plates with five pieces of mackerel and pineapple, a plate in each hand, setting two plates down before going to the kitchen to get another two plates, then taking the final ones and bringing out the last plate in his hands. The group began eating the mackerel and pineapple. There wasn't much of a conversation, but then Makoto asked,

"Sadan-chan. Have you considered joining the swim team?"

Sadan stopped eating and looked up at Makoto. The whole team was looking at her. She began to ponder, mind rationally scanning through her mental schedule. She was free after school, and on Saturday in the morning had Rock Climbing, sunday she was unoccupied. "Well, I do suppose I can join."

"That's great!" Nagisa said, standing up and hugging Sadan. She stiffened up, immediately saying, "Oi! Personal space, Nagisa!" She said, pushing him away lightly. She sighed, formerly contracting muscles relaxing, then asking, "Do we practice after school tomorrow?"

"Yep!" Nagisa said, and Sadan nodded, a smile forming on her pale white face. Conversation had struck the group, Haruka still silent but occasionally talking a bit, Makoto and Nagisa telling Sadan everything about the swim team, and Rei reading a book on quadratic equations. Soon, it was 20:34, and everyone, except for Haruka of course got ready to leave.

"I'll walk you home. It isn't safe, you know." Makoto said to Sadan, who smiled as thanks. Nagisa and Rei left together, while Makoto and Sadan stayed behind to talk a bit more with Haruka before the both of them left the house together. As soon as Haruka was alone, he felt something tugging at his heart. His heartbeat had quickened a little when she was around, and he sighed. It was a foreign feeling, and he felt longing to talk with her. She seemed nice. Her satisfying and friendly presence made him nervous around her. After she swam against him, he found her presence slightly delightful, and he wanted to know more about her. He was intrigued. Intrigued by her. He sighed, heading upstairs to go take a nice, long bath.

This was truly a new feeling.


	2. Chapter 2

It was the next day at school for the students of Iwatobi high, busy classes having passed and lunch time taking place. As they exited the home econ. classroom, Makoto and Haruka saw Sadan with Gou and Chigusa, chatting with one another. "Sadan-kun!" This resulted in Sadan swiftly turning her head, spotting Makoto face with the gentle smile plastered on it. She then gave a quick farewell to Gou and Chigusa, walking over to Makoto. "Mako-chan. What is it?"

"We're going to have lunch on the roof. Would you like to join us?"

"Sure." Sadan said, and Makoto showed her the way up to the roof. Haruka silent when they were walking upstairs, but as we all know, this was Haruka. At the roof, where the group usually had their lunch, the three of them were greeted with an excited Nagisa hugging the both of them.

"Sadan-kun! Mako-chan!" He said, and Sadan uncomfortably stiffened once again. Hey, personal space was an important priority to her!

"Can you please let go, Nagisa-chan?"

"Sorry, Sadan-kun!" Nagisa said, letting go of the both of them. Makoto simply smiled, while Nagisa let go of them and happily skipped to where Rei was sitting. Makoto sat down next to Haruka, who had taken out his lunch and silently eating. And guess what was it? Mackerel. With rice, no pineapples, including vegetables such as carrots and broccoli. Sadan recalled on what Makoto told her about Haruka and his love of Mackerel. And now she was thinking about Macklemore. Dammit. Continuing on, she heard from Gou that he would take off his clothes if he saw a body of water. Now THAT, appalled her. Taking off you clothes in public?! Gods, that shocked her. But at least Gou also told her he wore his swimsuit underneath his clothes wherever he went. Now that, had tranquilized her back to a calm state. Makoto took out his lunch, which was rice with squid and carrots. Rei was busy reading a book and Nagisa was scribbling words and drawings down onto a piece of paper. "So, Sadan-kun," He began, and Sadan looked at Nagisa. "what's your best stroke?"

"My best stroke?" Sadan questioned, looking at Nagisa, who's magenta eyes were full of curiosity as Sadan began to ponder and think carefully. "I think maybe breaststroke or freestyle." And that's when Haruka slowly lifted his head, ocean blue eyes now gazing towards Sadan. "But most likely it would be breaststroke. Freestyle is a close second." Her gaze went towards Haruka, and the both of them strangely looking at each other, both of them swiftly turning their heads away at the same time, a blush forming on Sadan's cheeks. "Sorry about that, Haru-kun." She said, remembering that he didn't like -chan bring used on his name.

"... It's alright." Haruka said after a few seconds of silence, continuing to eat his lunch. She simply smiled, then beginning to chat with Nagisa and Makoto about the swim team, questioning them about the strokes they mainly did. Haruka was just staring at Sadan, who was talking in delight to Nagisa and Makoto, a bright smile on her face. He looked away and continued eating his lunch in silence.

"Yesterday you were pretty fast! You were so close to beating Haru-chan!" Nagisa said, and Sadan smiled.

"Thanks for the compliment, but I think that if I even beat him, he would be the better swimmer. My stroke in freestyle isn't that smooth anyways. He's just like a dolphin, smooth and fast." She quickly told Nagisa. Haruka's cheeks slightly turned pink, but he forced himself to focus on the thoughts of water. How free he was, how captivating it was to him.

_But it isn't as intriguing as Sadan._

Wait, what the hell? Haruka, what is going on with you?! He silently continued eating his lunch, cheeks lightly dusted pink. He never though that his mind would say such crap, crap that never was significant, nor important to him. He heard Makoto ask, "But yesterday you brought your swimsuit, and you didn't even seem to know about the club back then."

Sadan explained, "I was supposed to have swimming practice that day at a gym with my cousins, but then when Gou-chan saw my swimsuit, she asked me if I wanted to try swimming at the school with you guys. I could skip a practice with my cousins, so I agreed and told my cousins I wasn't coming to their practice yesterday. I explained, but they said that I owned them a lot of circuits. Idiot cousins."

"But I think that a swimming test should go forward." Rei said, looking up from his book. "After all, we should witness your full ability and capability in swimming. If you're fast enough in at least two strokes, you can join the team." He said, closing the book he was reading.

"Isn't that asking for too much?" Makoto asked. "She already swam well yesterday-"

"I'm fine with it." Sadan said quickly. She had taken out her lunch, which was a box of fried rice and stir fried starch knots. She took out a set of plastic chopsticks from a small bag for lunch, using the chopsticks to grab a chunk to fried rice and put it in her mouth, eventually chewing on the rice. After swallowing it, she looked at Rei. "But if I'm forced to take another test after that one, I'll push someone into the pool."

"I think Haru-chan would like that!" Nagisa said, laughter lacing with his voice.

"He loves water, so he wouldn't mind. Maybe about the push, but not landing in the water." Makoto continued for a currently laughing Nagisa. He turned his head and looked at Haruka, who looked back at him. "Yes, he'll mind about the push, but not the water."

"Are you sure you want to take this test?"

"If it'll get me into the swim club, count me in." Sadan said, smiling.

"But even if you get in, try to make your stroke beautiful!"

"Shut up about outer beauty!"

"No!"

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Lunch had ended in a blur, a rush so quickly, it felt like only 5 minutes. In the hallways, students were walking here and there, crowded staircases filled with students slowly walking to their next class. As the members of the Iwatobi swim club headed downstairs, Nagisa asked them what was their next class.

"Mathematics." Rei replied calmly, looking for the quickest spot for them to safely pass and glide through the crowd. Of course, he was Nagisa were in the same class, so Nagisa pouted. He didn't like mathematics, of course.

"Me and Haru-chan have English next." Makoto said, sounding disappointed. "We don't really like the subject."

"Probably because you both don't do well in it!" Nagisa pointed out. Straightforward Nagisa, hey. That's just him!

"I have chemistry next." Sadan said, then groaning. "Gods, I HATE chemistry." She said, emphasis on the word hate. Loathe, despise, achingly hate, whatever vocabulary is useful for this.

"Well then, see you at the pool!" Makoto said, as they all went their separate ways and onto their individual classes. Haruka was staring at the stationary windows as he walked down the hallway with Makoto, the number of students slowly diminishing as the others went into their classrooms, proud that they weren't at the risk of receiving a late slip, calm that now they teachers wouldn't ask them why they were late. Haruka, meanwhile was just thinking about Sadan. And how she was much more intriguing than water.

Water, the thing he was in love with ever since he first set eyes on it. How free he felt in it, the delight hidden behind his mask whenever he was in the water. How his emotions ran wild, his mind now blank slate, the cool feeling of the water touching his skin.

But Sadan made him feel the things he felt in water. Not the freedom, the rise of emotions he felt whenever water was nearby, but the deep affectionate feelings rising to the surface of all emotions in him. She seemed different. Much more different than the other girls he had encountered. Maybe it was because she was extremely polite. Maybe it was because she was naturally friendly. "Haru-chan." Makoto said, resulting in Haruka to snap out of his pondering. "You seem to be thinking about Sadan."

"I'm not." Haruka said bluntly. Makoto simply smiled and looked at his childhood friend, knowing he was embarrassed and denying it.

"I'm sure you are." Makoto said as they both walked towards English class, Haruka still thinking about Sadan.


End file.
